Is 'revenge porn' site Texxxan.com coming back?

By Beth Rankin

Updated 10:21 am, Tuesday, October 1, 2013

A person claiming to be affiliated with "revenge porn" website Texxxan.com said content from the shut-down site has a new home on the web and has started a Twitter campaign against the women who originally sued the site.

On April 16, Judge Buddie J. Hahn of the 260th District Court in Orange granted an injunction preventing Texxxan.com's administrators from re-launching the site or sharing its content with other websites.

But "James Smith" - who has claimed responsibility for the site by email and defended the website on a telephone appearance on Anderson Cooper's talk show - claimed via Twitter and email that Texxxan is back.

Smith, whose identity has yet to be determined, isn't named in a lawsuit against Texxxan's administrators. Hunter Thomas Taylor, 25, of Orange, took responsibility for the site in an Aug. 14 deposition, saying he alone created and operated the site.

In an email to the Enterprise, Smith claimed Texxxan's content has been re-posted to a document-storing website that can only be accessed using online anonymity software.

"I just thought you might want to know all (of) the Texxxan.com content has been rehosted," Smith said in the email. "I do not give two (expletive) about Judge Buddie Hahn. He is a powerless old (expletive) with no ability to enforce his court orders beyond the confines of his courtroom."

As of Monday night, Texxxan.com remained defunct, though photos and information from that site have appeared on similar revenge porn websites. On one such site, an entire thread is dedicated to sourcing images of women from Beaumont, Orange and Port Arthur.

On Jan. 18, Beaumont attorney John S. Morgan filed a lawsuit on behalf of dozens of local women whose photos - mostly nude and semi-nude - appeared on Texxxan.com without their permission. Morgan later amended the suit to name four Orange residents he believed to be responsible for the site.

In an Aug. 14 deposition in his lawyer's office, Taylor took responsibility for the creation and administration of Texxxan.com. Although he said he was the site's sole operator, he maintained he was "never the uploader of any photographs."

Taylor's parents, Kenneth and Sandra Taylor, and longtime friend Austin Ray Ponthieu also were named as defendants. In the deposition, Taylor said neither his parents nor Ponthieu had any knowledge of the website and its operations.

So who, then, is the mystery man claiming responsibility for Texxxan.com?

"He could just be an absolute nobody that's coming in and posting the stuff just to cause trouble," Hahn said.

Hahn said he had never heard of James Smith nor was he aware of any threats to re-post Texxxan's content, which would violate Hahn's injunction. Denise Gremillion, Hunter Taylor's lawyer, declined to comment on Smith or his claims about re-hosting Texxxan's content.

At one point, Morgan said he believed Taylor was James Smith. Now, he's not so sure.

"I believe this person is a friend of Hunter Taylor and Austin Ponthieu," he said.

Smith has, in emails to the principals' lawyers, demonstrated some knowledge of the case.

"Say (expletive), I'm still here and still unserved with process," Smith said in an email to Morgan. The time stamp on the email indicated it was sent about 20 minutes after Smith emailed the Enterprise. "Your brief in the GoDaddy appeal is due Oct. 1st, and that's only a couple short days away when your extension of time to file it runs out, (expletive)."

Smith was referring to an Oct. 1 filing deadline for GoDaddy.com's interlocutory appeal, an appeal that is heard before a trial result. GoDaddy - which hosted Texxxan - filed for dismissal from the lawsuit at the April 16 hearing, but the motion was denied.

This next ruling will determine whether GoDaddy remains a part of the lawsuit or whether the host will be dismissed under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides immunity for internet service providers.

In late January, a man with his voice disguised called into the talk show Anderson Live to defend the website. In the Aug. 14 deposition, Taylor denied calling Anderson Cooper. When asked if he knew who did, he said no.

"I wish I did," Taylor said.

Meanwhile, someone posing as Texxxan's administrator has been repeatedly Tweeting at women named in the lawsuit, calling them "sluts," "whores" and "pieces of human garbage."

One Tweet claims that the new Texxxan.com is "bigger, better and more revengeful than ever! Posting of credit reports and SSNs is now allowed!"